Forever Immortal

by Amelia Hutchins

  The video changed, turning on as he walked through cages that held small humans in them. I swallowed past the pain that hit me as he showed me the truth. He spoke to me, as if he knew what he would do. As if he knew that he would die and that I’d find the video.

  “Remember the kids from that bus? Well, I found them, Isa. I wish they’d drowned, or just been eaten,” he said as he stopped, picking up a piece of meat from behind the camera and tossing it into a cell. The small boy eyed the food, then lifted dead eyes to Jesse before he lunged. His mouth formed into row after row of deadly fangs as black veins slid through his once beautiful face. “I really wish they’d just drowned and gotten into the next life easier. I know what you would say, that monsters like you don’t get into heaven, but I have to believe that someone like you would get in, because if not, what the hell chance would an asshole like me have, huh? You fight for those who can’t; you are everything bright in my world, Isa. Your smile is like a fire that literally burns shit down because it’s so bright. If this is what mortals do, maybe we don’t deserve to gain entrance into heaven. Maybe we belong in hell with the real monsters. I don’t want to…” A hand moved, slapping his phone from his hand as it hissed and spit, his phone landing on the camera. Jesse picked it back up, staring at it before he started speaking again, only there was no sound.

  “I don’t want to go heaven if they won’t allow you into it with me. I’d rather be damned to walk beside you in eternal hell, bound to never leave this world as long as I got to do it at your side, Isadora Kathrine MacPherson. You’re my best fucking bitch, my best friend. I’d rather die a mortal death and become a monster like you than be like them any day, because sometimes the monsters aren’t the bad people. Sometimes they’re the heroes.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks as I turned to stare at Jesse, who was hidden in the shadows of the room. He stepped forward, his hands in his pockets as he watched me.

  “If the hunters are the good guys, I’d rather be the monster. I’d rather be like you, and fight against them any day. You were never a monster, Isa. You were the only one of us who never strayed from their path, even though they laid it down for you. I didn’t lie to you. Cian isn’t controlling what I say. He only did what I asked of him, so that I was strong enough to fight beside you, without you having to worry about me being weak with mortality holding me back. I did this so that you could be free, and not worry about me. I also needed to get you away from them, so that I could show you the truth.”

  I shook my head as I remained silent, uncertain if I even could speak. Why the hell hadn’t he just started with that video to begin with? It would have made everything so much easier.

  “You’d have stopped me,” he said as I stared him down. “I knew what I was doing, knew I was able to change without any ill side-effects because my mother was able to be turned. If I had told you that I would ask a hybrid to sire me, you’d have slapped me silly, and you know it.”

  I flipped him off and shook my head. My hands moved in sign language as he watched them then lifted them.

  “You don’t hate me; you’re just pissed off because I did something behind your back. You wouldn’t have let me do this, admit it. Had I told you that I was going to betray the hunters, you’d have lost your mind. You wouldn’t have told them, or even warned them, but you would have tried to stop me. It’s who you are. So I did this, and I made sure you came with me. I needed you safe, protected, and unreachable from their grasp as I endured the change. I also know that they intend to take you into that building and breed you, because it is the only thing that makes sense. They’re bringing in toddlers, a lot of them, Isa. They won’t kill you, because they want you to sire an army of sirens they can control as they think they have done to you. I found records in the basement, and I know beyond a doubt they’re raping those women I gave them. They’re unable to control the children they injected with the mutations, and all but a very few of them have been put down. Now they seek women, women who can ovulate and have their eggs removed and placed into other women they have captured. Mortal women, Isa. That entire facility is being used to breed babes from other castes or breeds. Think about this. I’ve captured a hybrid vampire, three born vampires, seven werewolves, two Fae, and nine succubi, and my last assignment was to be you. The last known siren alive. The men are incubi, lycans, and three born vampires. I secured copious amounts of ovulation drugs and stimulants to keep them fucking into the next century. I did that, and now I’m asking you, my best fucking friend, to help me fix my mess.”

  I eyed Cian, he nodded, and I turned back to Jesse. “You’re a fucking idiot, bitch.”

  “I love you too, hooker.”

  “No, no, you don’t get to say that right now. I’m pissed at you! You died, you asshole! I tried to smash your fucking head in! I’m pissed. You died,” I sobbed as he moved closer, pulling me against him.

  “Told you, little she-cat, through heaven and hell, we go it together,” he said thickly with emotion as he held me tightly.

  I slapped him as I wiped off the tears and shoved him away. “Next time, start with the video proof and work up to the part where you die. You made me watch it!”

  “No, no, that was Cian’s payment for me handing his sister over to the Falcon. I tried to tell him that you’d snap. Jesus, Isa, I’m dead, and you’re about to walk into a breeding facility as bait.”

  “If you had just told me, I’d have set the place on fire and killed them all before we got to the fubar part,” I exhaled. “I guess we’re doing this, aren’t we?”

  “Hunters are the bad guys, and the monsters are the good guys.”

  “I don’t much enjoy being called a monster,” Cian growled as he stepped closer, noting the way Jesse’s hand touched mine. “Hands off, I still doona like ye much,” he hissed as he nodded towards the bag. “Jesse, wait with the others while Isa changes, everyone else get oot.”

  Chapter 14

  I watched Cian as he inspected me slowly, methodically dressing to walk into a trap. I held up the black lace panties and looked at him over the thin, wispy material. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to walk into a place where they want to rape and harvest my eggs in a thong?”

  “Nae, but I do nae plan tae let those bastards touch ye more than I ‘ave tae, Isa. Ye will go in, and when ye can, ye will escape them and open the doors fer me. I will be in tae get ye oot. Ye understand? I do nae like this option, but anything we’ve done has ended with us still being locked oot of the building. Someone has tae be in it tae let us in. Jesse couldn’t get in tae it, he tried, and they almost blew his head off his bloody shoulders. That was the night he met ye in the cemetery, and I had tae clean up the mess he made. I didn’t know ye when I agreed tae this. Knowing ye now makes it a lot harder tae send ye in there.”

  “So before I was just some woman you would send to her death, and now I’m not? What does it matter if I come out of there, Cian? I have no life without being a hunter. The entire fabrication of whom and what I was is gone.”

  “Do ye know what I do fer a living outside of the pharmaceutical company?”

  “How would I know that when I don’t even know you?” I huffed as I turned around and slipped into the panties, giving him the perfect view of my ass, which he could currently kiss.

  “I hunt down rogue immortals. I find the ones who doona obey the code, who feed from the mortals without care, or who abuse them, and I end them. I am nae only the monster the hunters fear, I am one a few others who immortals and monsters fear as well. There are seven o’ us, all hybrids who mark and watch our world, and when someone steps oot o’ bounds, we hunt.”

  “That’s cool, but I have no plans to stick around here after this is finished.”

  “Nae? Jesse is bound tae me, and he is nae leaving,” he growled.

  “Jesse is, but I have no reason to stay here. Why would I?” I asked, turning to stare at him as I wondere
d why he would want me here, or in his hive.

  “Ye can do what ye want tae, Isa. Yer free and a big girl,” he snapped as he rubbed his hand down his face. “Ye can stay fer a few days, figure oot what ye plan tae do when this is finished. It will nae be done in days, ye ken that, aye? We will need tae save or put down the wee creatures they created tae, and free the others like ye from them.”

  “In your bed?” I snorted as I picked up the shirt and slipped it over my head.

  “I doona mind, but I can nae promise I will be good, wee Isa.”

  “See, I wasn’t in your bed willingly, and now I’m about to be sent into a place where I won’t matter to them any more than I matter to you, Cian. I’m just one of the unlucky girls who drew a short straw and gets to play into the maddening games of other people’s messes.” I pulled up the jeans and collected my hair, pulling it out of my face as he watched me. I reached into the bag, withdrawing my socks and favorite boots before I knelt down and pushed my feet into them, tying them before I looked back into the bag. “You left my weapons?” I asked.

  “Pissing them off before they get ye into the compound is nae a good idea, wee one.”

  “Or you just didn’t trust me in the hive armed?” I countered.

  “That tae, ye are a hunter.”

  “No, not anymore,” I laughed coldly as I closed the bag and turned to face him. “Now I’m just one of the many monsters without a purpose who the real hunters will mark for death, because I’m about to slaughter every adult hunter who ever touched me. Everyone who betrayed me or made me think I was evil will pay for it, and afterwards, I may have no soul left to be saved. Maybe I’ll deserve what comes for me.”

  “Ye will nae be hunted, ever. That much I do promise ye, Isa. Ye will be protected by every person and every family whose loved one ye are saving. Ye think we are monsters, but we are run on bloodlines and family. We are nae what ye ‘ave been taught, and if ye allow me tae, I will prove it. Stay with me,” he uttered as his hand captured mine and pulled me closer as the muscle in his jaw clenched. “Let me show ye who we are before ye leave here.”

  “If I agree, will you shut up?” I asked as I chewed my lip staring up at him.

  “Aye,” he smirked as the door opened and he dropped my hand.

  “The men are already loading into the vans,” Caspian said as he stared me down carefully, an uneasy look filling in his obsidian, gold-flecked eyes. “Ye had a fucked up upbringing, so I can understand yer hatred of what ye doona understand. This is our family, and when someone is missing or in trouble, it does nae matter who or what stands in the way. I’m sorry that I was rough and crass, but she’s my wee sister. I can nae stomach tae think of their hands on her, or what they may be doing tae her.”

  “It’s whatever,” I said as I stepped closer to Cian until I realized what I had done.

  “Have ye told her?” Caspian asked.

  “Nae, and ye will nae either, brother. She needs tae focus on opening the door and nothing else.”

  “Cian, she may nae come back, ye ken that?”

  “Awa’ an bile yer heid,” Cian snapped.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It means tae leave, and he kens it.”

  “No, no, I got that part. What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

  “I’ll tell ye when ye come back here,” he promised as his eyes searched mine. “When ye are ready tae hear it. He’s a bampot, doona be listening tae him.”

  “Bampot?” I asked.

  “Crazy idiot, ye grew up in the Highlands, and ye doona ken what a bampot is?”

  “Uh, no. What century is it from? You’re ancient, right?”

  He frowned and then watched my mouth as a smile played across my lips before I chewed it to stop it. He was poking fun at his brother, but beneath it, I could sense he was holding something back, and I prayed it wasn’t something that may get me killed.

  Laird Cameron moved through the hallway, his eyes taking in his sons as he approached me. He stopped, staring me down as if he would say something, then thought better of it and turned to Cian.

  “We need tae get moving, they’re watching the cemetery fer her now; if she sneaks in, they will nab her.”

  “We better move,” I said to no one in particular, but Cian pulled me into his arms, kissing me until I relaxed and kissed him back before he abruptly pulled away and left me teetering on uneasy feet.

  “Now we can go, wee hunter.”

  I followed behind them until I paused and then started again as Jesse stepped into an easy walk beside me. He didn’t speak, even as my hand slipped into his. Whatever came, hell or heaven, we’d go there together. I squeezed his hand, reassuring him that I was okay with whatever happened.

  Chapter 15

  Entering the cemetery, knowing I was walking into a trap, sucked. It wasn’t the being ambushed part, or even the thought of capture; it was feeling expendable to Cian that caused the lump to form in my throat. I could feel his heartbeat as it matched mine, knew he was close enough that his scent carried upon the breeze that rustled my hair against my neck. I peered up at the brilliantly bright stars that filled the skies above me, noting the illumination of them as the darkness allowed them to shine beautifully.

  My gaze dropped, staring at the numbers I knew by heart. The nameless grave that I’d randomly chosen to stand in front of since I’d started coming to this place. It hurt to even consider that this entire time, without knowing it, I’d been drawn to the man who had sired me. To a place filled with victims of mortals and immortals alike, that rogue hunters had slaughtered with my help. I had thought I was making a difference, and while I knew that not everything I had done had been evil, I couldn’t help but wonder how many immortals I’d taken out of their way to reach their endgame. I was a pawn they moved, who willingly allowed it to happen.

  A twig snapped behind me, and I turned, staring into the thicket not far from where I stood. A bubbling fountain sat mere feet away from me, the camera noticeable in the eye of the angel who played in the water while the smaller one above him spewed it from his mouth. Beside it was a bench, one that I’d often sat on as I reflected over a kill, compartmentalizing what I’d done among the dead who couldn’t judge me.

  I studied the area, knowing that they expected me to do as much before I shrugged it off and turned back around. High-pitched whistling sounded before pain sliced through my arm. I dropped to my knees, grabbing my shoulder as wetness spread over it. Exhaling, I struggled to get back to my feet as my bloody hand held on to the grave in front of me for balance. It was useless, as poison burned through me as foam filled my mouth. Proof that what Jesse had told me was all true.

  Dark shadows with semi-automatic rifles swarmed the cemetery. I was kicked roughly to the ground, the air expelling from my lungs as pain assaulted me. Hands grabbed me, turning me onto my back as I peered up into faces covered in black masks. One male pulled his mask up and stared down at me as if I wasn’t a person. Cold, detached eyes studied me as I coughed up foam, foam that numbed and disabled my ability to speak.

  The same poison the hunters had used on me countless times before, rendering me helpless to fight against them as they watched me. I couldn’t speak, move, or fight back as it coursed through my entire system, rendering me hopeless and unable to do anything other than twinge and twist in white-hot, searing pain.

  “Pretty,” he laughed as he knelt down, ripping my shirt open as he pulled it from my body. His hand grabbed one breast, squeezing it painfully as he watched my response to him. Another male pushed the gag down my throat as it sealed it off and made it so I couldn’t wield my voice after the poison had finished. The male who was openly fondling my breasts grabbed my hair, pulling it as he assisted the man in securing the mask over my mouth. He slipped my arms out of my shirt and handed it off to another man, but not before he wiped the oozing blood from the wound onto it.
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br />   “You’re a creature of habit, Isadora. You made this too easy. I actually was looking forward to hunting you down and showing you how our division handles weak whores. You really should have stayed missing, but I’m glad you didn’t. You see, I called dibs on you.” His eyes burned with hatred as they began to glow dimly, telling me he wasn’t exactly human either. “I want this shirt cut up and spread throughout the Highlands; if anyone is searching for our dirty little siren, I want them far away from the facility. Hand me your knife,” he demanded and in utter silence, unable to move away from him, I listened and flinched as he destroyed my pants, cutting them from my flesh as he nicked the inside of my thigh. His mouth lowered, and he sucked against the blood that trailed from the wound. His fingers slipped over the thin panties and his eyes lifted to mine. “You taste good enough to rape, whore.”

  I squeezed my eyes closed, feeling my own heart begin to thunder before slowing as he continued nipping at my thigh until his blunt teeth sank into it, causing me to struggle against the gag that held the scream in as my mind tried to shut down what was happening to me. Pain ripped through me as tears filled my eyes. His bite was meant to hurt; unlike Cian’s much more thrilling one, his was to inflict damage. As the pain lessened, I opened my eyes and stared up at his bloody mouth as he smiled chillingly down at me.

  “I’m going to enjoy hurting you.”

  I stilled my heart, knowing the wound to my thigh was extensive. I felt the mangled flesh from his blunt, abusive teeth as something else was pushed into the wound as I trembled in pain and watched men stepping up to bathe my clothes in the wound.

  “Nothing to say about that? Oh, that’s right, you can’t talk,” he laughed coldly as he nodded to another male, who moved closer with a plastic bag and held it open for everything else. “Burn it, leave no trace that we were here. When I move her, pour gas where she bled, and be sure there’s nothing left to show she was ever here,” he told the other male, who nodded and stared down at me. Hardon, one of the hunters I’d grown up with, peered down at me with loathing hatred. Anger and betrayal shot through me as I took in the other familiar faces with them.